Tapering hair clipper



NOV. 3, 1936. c v s 2,059,454

TAPERING HAIR CLIPPER Filed Sept. 9, 1935 2 Sheets-Sheet l INVENTOR.

CHARLES M HA VENS ATTORNEYi.

Nov. 3, 1936. i c, v Ns 2,059,454

TAPERING HAIR CLIPPER F N 49 l y INVENTOR.

CHARLES M. HA VENS I74? ATTORNEYS Patented Nov. 3, 1936 UNlTED SgT'i'ES orrics TAPERING HAIR CLIPPER,

Francisco, Calif.

Application September 9, 1935, Serial No. 39,76il

17 Claims.

This invention relates to hair clippers which automatically eifect a tapering cut of the hair from very short to relatively long hair, such as usually required at the back of the neck, and

the present case represents a continuation in part of my allowed copending application for patent entitled Self-adjustable clipper, filed under Serial No. 635,893 on October 3, 1932, now Patent No. 2,024,220, issued Dec. 1'7, 1935, as it includes claims to the power take-off from the end of the reciprocating blade broadly as first shown in said application.

The principal object of the present invention is to provide improvements in such devices whereby the tapering mechanism may easily be applied as a unit to a standard hand or electricoperated clipper, also such a device which will have a simplified reliable power take-off for operating it from the end of the reciprocating clipper blade, 20 also which may be easily locked at any point of adjustment for cutting to a constant length, also such a device in which an auxiliary comb plate is pivoted to the under side of the clipper in a peculiar way whereby the tapering mechanism will automatically force it to swing both outwardly and forwardly during the tapering cut. Other objects and advantages of my improvements will-appear in the following description and accompanying drawings.

In the drawings:

Fig. 1 is a side View of an electric hair clipper drawn full size and showing the fixed cutter blade or base plate upon which my attachment mounts.

Fig. 2 is a bottom plan of the base plate or fixed cutter blade of the clipper of Fig. 1 as seen from the line 2--2 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is an enlarged View of the cutter end of the clipper in same position as in Fig. 1 but showing my tapering attachment in place and with the auxiliary pivoted comb plate which covers the mechanism shown in section.

Fig. 4 is a bottom plan view of the comb plate, enlarged to same scale as in Fig. 3.

5 Fig. 5 is an end view of' the comb plate of Fig. 4.

Fig. 6 is a top view of the comb plate of Fig. 4 showing its interior construction.

Fig. 'l is a bottom plan view of Fig. 3 with comb plate omitted.

Fig. 8 is an end view of Fig. 7.

Fig. 9 is a rear edge view of Fig. 7.

Fig. 10 is an enlarged cross section of the spiral disk cam used to swing the comb plate.

Fig. 11 is a perspective view of the attaching plate which carries all of the tapering mechanism and controls, and to which the comb plate is pivotally attached to swing outwardly.

Briefly described the invention comprises, similarly to that of my copending application mentioned, a common hair clipper with reciprocable toothed cutter blade and special mechanism mounted on the lower end of the clipper operated by the reciprocation of the cutter blade for automatically swinging outwardly a special comb plate pivotally mounted at its rear end to the structure and formed to cover or house all of its operating mechanism. The difference between the present structure and that claimed in the copending case resides in the mode of taking off the power from the outer end of the reciprocating blade, the special cam and arrangement for transmitting motion to the comb plate, the special pivoting of the comb plate and guiding means to make it swing both outwardly as well as forwardly to a certain extent, the special control and locking features, and last but not least the operative mounting of all the elements upon a single attachment plate which secures against the existing base plate or ordinary lower cutter blade of the clipper with the same screws ordinarily used to hold said base plate to the clipper, and without requiring any work or alteration of any kind to be performed on the regular clipper body, blade, or base in any way, so that the invention forms a complete attachment which may be taken off or attached in a few moments.

Another feature is that while the forward edge of the tapering comb plate automatically swings slowly out from in contact with the lower cutter blade to about a quarter of an inch therefrom (as well as forwardly) to give the tapering hair out, (though it may be made to swing out further if desired) yet it may be locked out at any point as a gage for that length of cut and with the tapering mechanism stopped by disengagement of the power take-off.

In the drawings my tapering attachment is shown applied to an electric hair clipper, but its operation is in no way concerned with the'particular means used to operate the clipper as it merely takes off its own operating power from the outer end of the reciprocating clipper blade, and hence is applicable to any type of clipper having a. reciprocating blade, whether the clipper be electrically or hand-operated.

In further detail the drawings show a conven tional form of electric hair clipper having a handle-like body I, power switch 2, electric cord 3 at the outer or upper end, while at the lower end it is provided with a fixed cutter or base plate 4 having cutting teeth 5 at its forward edge, and a shorter transversely reciprocable cutter blade 5 on top of the fixed blade and similarly provided with cutting teeth I, the upper blade being reciprocated upon the lower blade by any suitable mechanism housed within the handle I and not concerned with the present invention.

It will be noted by reference to Fig. 2 that the fixed cutter or base plate 4 is secured to the body of the clipper by means of a pair of screws 8 and that these screws pass through a flat portion 4 of the plate of reduced thickness extending from the rear end of the plate to a line 9 and from which point forwardly are a lot of fine ribs I2 which extend to the tips of the teeth respectively, and it is to this flat reduced portion that all my mechanism attaches (by the same screws 8) through means of a special carrier or attachment plate I formed generally as shown in perspective in Fig. 11 and provided with holes I2 for the screws, it being merely necessary to remove the screws, place the attachment plate II with its mechanism in place on the base plate or fixed cutter and replace the screws, and after which the special comb plate |3 (Figs. 3 to 6) is pivotally connected to side flanges 21 of the attachment plate by small pivot screws I5 so as to cover the tapering mechanism and be in position to be swung outwardly by its operation as will be explained.

The comb plate I3 is a thin sheet metal shelllike affair extending over the lower side of the fixed clipper blade 4, provided with a rear wall 5 rounded as at into the plate I3, and substantially triangular side walls I8 apertured at I9 and threaded for the pivot screws l5 and provided with two small inwardly projecting guiding studs I9 near the forward ends of the side walls, while within the shell and secured thereto as by small rivets 29 is a sheet metal leaf spring 2| provided with a stud 22 at its free end projecting inwardly of the shell, and which stud is adapted to ride within the groove of the spiral cam wheel 23 as will be later described. The bottom of the comb plate is preferably ribbed as indicated at 24 and which ribs terminate forwardly in comb-like teeth 25 which are preferably of coarser pitch than the cutting teeth of the clipper and arranged so as to respectively align with every other one of the cutter teeth, to better guide any out hairs out of the way which might get below the cutters. A small hole at 54 facilitates pushing spring 2| outwardly for assembling purposes.

The attachment plate I I is a thin sheet of metal of a size to fit upon the fiat surface 4 of the lower cutter or base plate 4 and is formed with a rear wall 26, and a pair of side flanges 21 each slotted as at 28 near its rear end for reception of the inner ends of the comb plate pivot screws I5 and having curved open slots 29 at their forward ends to receive the guiding studs |9 of the comb plate so that as the comb plate is moved by the cam it will swing outwardly on pivots I5 under control of the guiding studs I9 and will also advance slightly as a whole so that when the comb plate is swung closest to the lower cutter its forward thin edge will lie sufiiciently back of the cutting teeth so as to avoid any interference with very close cutting, yet when swung outward for the longest cut the plate will give good support under the cutting teeth.

The actuating mechanism to swing the comb plate in the manner described consists of a fiat spiral-faced, or phonograph, cam wheel 23 rotatably secured to the attachment plate II as by a screw or rivet 39 and the rim of the wheel having ratchet teeth 3| around its edge. The spiral groove 32 of this wheel is adapted to receive the stud 22 of the spring 2| of the comb plate and which stud normally clears the cam wheel but may be forcibly pulled into it by means of a small fiat lever arm 33 which positions between the spring 2| and the comb plate, and is operated by a finger lever 34 which extends up alongside the body I of the clipper and may be pushed toward the body to contact the same. Lever 33 is bent around a corner to the form shown in Figs. '7 and 9 and pivoted to the rear wall 26 of the attachment plate as by the screw 35 and provided with an extension 36 engaged in a slot in the short end 31 of lever 34 which is also bent arounda corner and pivoted as at 38 to the attachment plate, the pivot attaching holes in the attachment plate being shown on Fig. 11 respectively as 35' and 38.

Finger lever 34 is normally held outward by means of a small wire spring 39 suitably secured to the attachment plate at one end as indicated and its free end acting on the lever. This, of course, also holds lever arm 33 up (Fig. 9) or with spring stud 22 disengaged from the spiral cam unless finger lever 34 is pushed against the side wall of the clipper handle.

Lever 33 is provided with another arm 40 which extends along the rear wall 26 of the attachment plate and with its outer end lying just below the rear end 4| of the power take-off lever which is itself pivoted vertically at 43 through the attachment plate and is bent around corners in a manner to provide an arm 44 bearing at its forward end 44 against the side edge only of the upper or reciprocable cutter blade 6. A small wire spring 45 suitably secured at one end to the attachment plate and reacting at its free end against the lever (see Fig. 7) insures a resilient contact of the arm 44 against the side edge of the blade to follow it in its slight reciprocatory motion.

Power take-off lever 4|, 44, is bifurcated at its rear end as at 46 to form portions 4|, 4|, and to the latter is pivotally mounted at 41 a small pawl 48 which is resiliently urged to engage the ratchet teeth 3| of the spiral cam by means of a small wire spring 49 so that in the oscillation of the power take-off lever the spiral cam will be turned slightly each time to gradually carry the stud 22 forward in the spirals until it rides in the outermost groove of the cam which is circular and a trifle deeper than the others so that the comb plate will be held in outermost position until the stud 22 is withdrawn from the cam by releasing finger lever 34 and a Wire spring 50 secured at one end to the rear wall 26 of the attachment plate and reacting at its outer end against the inner rear wall of the comb plate automatically returns the plate so that upon again pressing the finger lever the stud 22 will again be forced into the cam groove near the center of the cam for repetition of its outward travel. A slight hump 5| on the comb plate positions the spring.

In operation, and with the finger lever pressed in, the stud 22 travels outward and the comb plate swings outwardly on its pivots I5 as Well as forwardly slightly, and just as stud 22 reaches the outermost groove the rear wall of the comb spring up in back ofthe end of lever 4! and hold it from swinging back again, while at the same time this releasing of the finger lever also raises lever arm 33 and releases the stud 22 from the cam groove so that spring 50 at once returns the comb plate to the close-cut starting position. However, if at any time or point in the movement of the comb plate it is desired to lock the plate against movement in either direction, a fingeroperated latch 52 is swung to the right from full line position of Fig. 9 to the dotted position (while holding finger lever 34 pressed in) so as to come between the two outer ends 40 and 4| of the levers and thus lock the power take-off out of contact with the reciprocating cutter blade and also look the finger lever down or depressed and with comb plate stud 22 in the cam groove at whatever place it might happen to be, and holding the comb plate rigid at that particular adjustment so the clipper can be used to cut that length of hair until the adjustment is altered. The comb plate may thus be locked at point of closest cut, longest cut, or at any intermediate point.

- Latch 52 is pivoted at 53 to the rear wall 26 of the attachment plate I l by a screw or rivet through ahole 53 and formed with a suitably formed end 52' which projects rearwardly from under the comb plate so as to be accessible for swinging the latch with the finger. The latch works frictionally tight enough to stay in either looking or unlocking position.

The tapering mechanism ratchet wheels, spiral cam, etc., are so proportioned that with an electric clipper it takes preferably about four seconds to swing the comb plate out to its limit of travel and Where it will remain until the finger lever 34 is released to thereby lift the stud 22 out of the spiral cam and permit the comb plate to fly back to starting point, but it will not start forward again until the finger lever is again pressed down, and of course held down, for at any time the finger lever is released the comb plate will fly back to starting position for a close out. It should be noted that the comb plate in swinging outwardly at its forward end also advances somewhat to give its outer end a substantially 45 angle outward and forward movement from its starting position of Fig. 3, while at the same time the rear end is pivoted on pins l5 in grooves 28 which tip forwardly downward slightly toward the body of the clipper, as indicated in Fig. 11, and which fact also swings the pivoted rear end slightly inward or toward the mechanism as the forward end of the plate swings outwardly. This movement, taken with the very flat assemblage of mechanical members constituting the operative mechanism, keeps the comb plate closer to the original base plate than would otherwise be the case.

Another feature of importance in the construction of the comb plate is the fact that the length of its flat under surface [3 to the point of rounded rear corner I! is appreciably less than the length of the base plate or fixed cutter blade 4, or, that is, the point of rounding of the corner lies forward of the rear end of the fixed plate, as it is important to keep it short.

The pin and slot arrangement described which pivotally connects the comb plate with the attachment plate may, of course, be reversed in respect to which plate carries the pins, and which plate carries the slots.

Having thus described my improved tapering clipper construction and its mode of operation, it'

will be evident to those skilled in the art to which it appertains to make changes in the details of construction without departing from the spirit of the invention and scope of the appended claims.

I therefore claim:

1. In a hair clipper having a body and a pair of relatively reciprocable toothed clipping blades at its forward end one over the other, a plate formed to cover the lower side of the body and to provide a space between the body and the plate, said plate terminating at its forward end adjacent the cutting teeth of the lower blade and mounted in a manner for moving outwardly to and from the lower blade, and mechanism operatively positioned between said plate and said lower blade arranged for moving said plateincluding a power take-offmember arranged to engage the side edge of the reciprocable clipping blade for thereby actuating said mechanism.

2. In a hair clipper having a body and a pair of relatively reciprocable toothed clipping blades at its forward end one over the other, a plate formed to cover the lower side of the body and to provide a space between the body and the plate, said plate terminating at its forward end adjacent the cutting teeth of the lower blade and mounted in a manner for moving outwardly to and from the lower blade, and mechanism operatively positioned between said plate and said lower blade arranged for moving said plate including a power take-off member arranged to engage the side edge of the reciprocable clipping blade for thereby actuating said mechanism, said plate provided with substantially triangular shaped side walls covering said mechanism at the sides of the clipper and a rear wall extending upwardly concealing said mechanism from the rear.

3. In a construction as specified in claim 2, said mechanism including advancing means for engaging said plate for moving it forwardly and outwardly, and a spring bearing against the inner side of said rear wall for returning the plate when released by the advancing means, and means for releasing said advancing means from engagement with said plate.

4. In a hair clipper having a reciprocable toothed cutting blade, an auxiliary plate adapted to slide upon the hairy surface to be clipped and mounted for movement outwardly from the clipper, means actuated by the reciprocable blade arranged for moving said plate outwardly including a member contacting the side edge of the reciprocable blade for taking its motivating power therefrom during the reciprocation of the blade.

5. In a hair clipper having a reciprocable toothed cutting blade, an auxiliary plate adapted to slideupon the hairy surface to be clipped and mounted for movement outwardly from the clipper, means actuated by the reciprocable blade arranged for moving said plate outwardly including a member contacting the side edge of the reciprocable blade for taking its motivating power therefrom during the reciprocation of the blade, and means for automatically disengaging said member from the edge of the reciprocable blade at the outermost position of said plate.

6. In the construction specified in claim 4, finger-operable means arranged and adapted for locking said member out of operative contact with said reciprocable blade.

7. In a construction as specified in claim 1, a finger-operated lever arranged for disengaging 1 said auxiliary plate from the means for moving it outwardly at any point in its movement.

8. In a construction as specified in claim 1, a. finger-operated lever arranged for disengaging said auxiliary plate from the means for moving it outwardly at any point in its movement, and spring means for returning the plate to starting position at once upon such disengagement.

9. In a construction as specified in claim 1, a finger-operated lever arranged for disengaging said auxiliary plate from the means for moving it outwardly at any point in its movement, spring means for returning the plate to starting position, and a finger-operated latch for locking the plate firmly at any point of its movement.

10. In a construction as specified in claim 1, a finger-operated lever arranged for disengaging said auxiliary plate from the means for moving it outwardly at any point in its movement, spring means for returning the plate to starting position, and a finger-operated latch for locking the plate firmly at any point of its movement arranged to also look the power take-off member disengaged from the reciprocable blade.

11. In a hair clipper having a pair of relatively reciprocable toothed cutting blades one over the other, means for effecting a graduating length of cut in using the clipper comprising an attachment plate adapted to be secured to the clipper, an auxiliary plate adapted to slide upon the hairy surface to be clipped and mounted upon said attachment plate for movement outwardly from the clipper, and power transmitting and control means carried entirely by said attachment plate arranged to transmit motion from the reciprocable cutting blade to said auxiliary plate for moving the same outwardly.

12. In a hair clipper having a pair of relatively reciprocable toothed cutting blades one over the other, and the lower one held by screws to the body of the clipper, means for effecting a graduating length of cut in using the clipper comprising an attachment plate adapted to be secured to the clipper, an auxiliary plate adapted to slide upon the hairy surface to be clipped and mounted upon said attachment plate for movement outwardly from the clipper, and power transmitting and control means carried entirely by said attachment plate arranged to transmit motion from the reciprocable cutting blade to said auxiliary plate for moving the same outwardly, said attachment plate arranged for securing to the clipper in a position overlying a portion of the lower cutting blade and secured in place by the same screws which hold the blade.

13. In a hair clipper having a pair of relatively reciprocable toothed cutting blades one over the other, a graduating cut effecting plate mounted to substantially cover the lower cutting blade and in a manner to move at its forward edge outwardly therefrom as well as forwardly, and means operatively engaging a moving part of the clipper arranged and adapted for moving the plate outwardly and forwardly as described, said plate being pivotally mounted at its rear end to the clipper and provided at its forward end with guides to control its direction of movement as aforesaid.

14. In a construction as specified in claim 2, said mechanism including a spiral disk cam, a flat spring mounted on the inner side of said plate and provided with a stud arranged to engage said cam, and a finger-operated lever arranged for forcing the stud to engage the cam.

'15. In a construction as specified in claim 2, said mechanism including a spiral disk cam, a fiat spring mounted on the inner side of said plate and provided with a stud arranged to engage said cam, a finger-operated lever arranged for forcing the stud to engage the cam, and spring means normally returning said lever and releasing the stud from the cam.

16. In a construction as specified in claim 13, the pivotal mounting of the rear end of the plate formed in a manner to also tip the rear end of the plate inwardly slightly and permit it to move forwardly as the forward end swings outwardly and forwardly.

1'7. In a hair clipper having a pair of relatively reciprocable toothed cutting blades one over the other, a plate for controlling the length of cut mounted to substantially cover the lower cutting blade and in a manner to move at its forward edge outwardly therefrom as well as forwardly, and manually operated means for locking said plate at various points of adjustment, said plate being pivotally mounted at its rear end to the clipper and provided at its forward end with guides to control its direction of movement as aforesaid.

CHARLES M. HAVENS. 

